Tuesday, August 11, 2009

In the last week we began our kitchen remodel-a giant undertaking since it involves tearing up much of the main floor of our house. For Sawyer this primarily means that he's been displaced, since the room with his kennel, toys and food is all part of the remodel. So, last night we had to put his kennel into the next room, and boy did we hear about it. You wouldn't think simply changing the location of a kennel would be such a big deal, but he whined for a good five minutes after being put to bed, and he usually doesn't make a peep. Just goes to show that for dogs, any sort of generalization is difficult; which is why it's so important that as trainers we vary everything surrounding each behavior we teach them, (location, our body language, time of day, etc.) so that they can be successful no matter what the situation.

One bonus of the remodel that my brother and I discovered today is that the floor covering they put over the wood to protect it is extremely slippery. After watching us slide around on it, Sawyer was eager to join in the fun and would happily try to chase us, unable to get a grip on the floor and sliding right past us. This floor situation also made our recalls today a lot more fun:

About Sawyer

Sawyer is a male, golden retriever puppy who's in training to become a service dog for Helping Paws, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to further the independence of people with physical disabilities (other than blindness or deafness) through the use of service dogs.